


The Dancing & the Dreaming

by miceenscene



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Bad Dreams, Character Death, F/M, Gen, Grand Relics, Grief/Mourning, Magnus dreams, Spoilers for The Eleventh Hour, so many feels about the Burnsides, this is how I coped post-episode 48
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-13
Updated: 2017-01-13
Packaged: 2018-09-17 06:51:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9310142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miceenscene/pseuds/miceenscene
Summary: "But I would bring you rings of gold, I'd even sing you poetry and I would keep you from all harm if you would stay beside me" Magnus dreams of things he wish he could forget. Spoilers for Eleventh Hour arc.





	

     “What are you doing, you silly?”

     Magnus looked up and around, the voice coming from no direction and every direction at once. Morning sunlight flickered through the pennants slung across the streets of the Ravens’ Roost craftsman’s corridor. The usually bustling area was quiet and empty, save for him. Familiar scents of pine shavings, a warming furnace, the compacted dirt street, and just the faintest hint of lavender met his nose.

     “Magnus?” the voice spoke again, almost seeming to echo around him. He turned around, and there she was, leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed and a bemused smile on her face. Her large tangles of black curls were pulled away from her face by a blue handkerchief tied over her head. There were ink stains on the side of her right hand.

     Just the sight of her took his breath away.

     “Did you get lost?” she asked, the sound of her voice washing over and wrapping around him. Magnus stared at her, confused. Of course he wasn’t lost, he knew exactly where he was. “And what’d you do with your chair?”

     Magnus stepped forward, reaching out for Julia. Every fiber of his being longed to feel her in his arms again, to smell her hair, to never ever let go. But as he reached forward there was something in his right hand. Time slowed to almost a stop as he noticed what it was. A silver chalice. 

     Immediately, instinctively, he dropped it and jumped back. His back colliding with the shopfront across the street. His heart was racing, a cold sweat poured from every pore, and his stomach flipped over several times.

     The cup bounced on the ground, benignly, and rolled to a stop. But instead of quieting, its sound grew louder and louder till it was the only thing Magnus could hear. He crouched down against the building, holding his hands over his ears and screwing his eyes shut. The sound growing so loud the world quaked around him. 

     Till it suddenly stopped.

     He remained crouched for a minute more, before tentatively opening one eye and then another. He slowly stood and looked around.

     Dust clouds swirled around him, and he waved them away, coughing. High above him was a crystal blue sky and a harsh sun. He blinked to adjust his eyes and noticed the pillar of one of the residential districts of Ravens’ Roost far above him. For a moment he wondered how he was seeing it from his angle, for surely from this side he’d have to be in the craftsman’s corridor. A slight breeze blew away some more dust clouds and he realized he was in the craftsman’s corridor. The corridor immediately following Callen’s attack.

     The top of the pillar had shattered into large plates, crashing into steep angles. The buildings crumpled against each other, glass shards and roof tiles littering the ground. Bodies were strewn across the street, crushed under fallen walls, trapped in crags. He couldn’t help but recognize the faces of his co-workers, neighbors, friends.

     He almost couldn’t bring himself to look at the Hammer and Tong. But slowly he turned to face the building, and he froze. Somehow, miraculously, impossibly, it was fine. As if the destruction around it didn’t exist. It stood tall and sturdy, the shop sign swinging slightly on its post, and the front stoop recently swept. Not even the windows were broken.

     Almost without realizing what he was doing, Magnus crossed the street and opened the door. It swung open and the bell chimed merrily. The sight of the interior was like a punch to the gut. The outside may have seemed solid and strong, but the inside was a wreck.

     The back wall was just gone, the furnace had combusted and blown apart the shop as the pillar collapsed. Glass from the windows was strewn across the floor, broken relics of his wood works were piled in corners, broken and burned. A few torn receipts fluttered through the air and danced across the floor, drawing designs in the dirt and ash.

     And sitting in the middle of all of it was the rocking chair. Completely unharmed, gleaming in the harsh sun, and casting a crisp shadow on the floor.

     Hardly daring to breathe, he gave the chair a wide berth and edged his way around the room. He tentatively looked into the adjoining room, Steven’s workshop. It was much the same as his side of the shop.

     “This chair smells like grandma’s.” the echoing voice said in an all-too familiar tone. His jaw clenched and he stared at the floor.

     “What’s the matter, Magnus?” the voice changing at it continued, the echoing seemed to slowly locate right behind him till it sounded just like her. He closed his eyes, maybe if he just pretended hard enough it would stop. He didn’t know how much more he could take before-

     Suddenly, two hands lightly touched his shoulders, they ran a familiar path down his back and then looped around to his front, just clasping about his middle. He could feel her body press against him as she rested her cheek on the back of his shoulder, the texture of her hair tickling the back of neck. Gods, she smelled exactly like he remembered. He slowly looked down and gently rested his hands over hers, feeling the familiar callouses and the ring he had made for her.

     “I’m so proud of you, Magnus.” she said, intertwining her fingers with his. “I know…” she stopped and took a deep breath. “This isn’t the life you deserved...but it’s the one the world needs you to have. The world needs you to make the selfless choices, and suffer the cost. And while,” her voice grew thicker as she took a shuddering breath. Magnus blinked away some tears that ran down his face. “While I wish fate hadn’t chosen you, it couldn’t have picked a more worthy man to save us all. You’re going to be magnificent, my love. I’m so sure of it. And when you’re done, I’ll be there for you on the other side.” Her head turned against his shoulder and she stood on tip-toe to press a kiss to the side of his neck. “I love you, Mags.”

     “I love you, Jules.” he managed, the tears running freely down his cheeks. He turned around to face her but she was gone. He looked around for a quick moment, till he spotted her. On the ground, dead. 

     Magnus sank to his knees, unable to tear his eyes away. Quiet voices began to circle around him, but he paid them no mind. He memorized her face, the large dark red gash across her forehead, her dark brown eyes staring blankly ahead. The voices began to grow louder still.

     “I found another one!” a familiar voice called out. Magnus watched one of his neighbors gingerly pick his way across the rubble into the store. Several more followed behind him.

     “Oh, gods.”

     “What?”

     “It’s ...Julia.”

     The group of them gathered near her. They didn’t seem to notice or even see the kneeling Magnus.

     “Magnus isn’t back yet, is he?”

     “He won’t be back for over two weeks.”

     One went to her head and another went to her feet. Magnus reached out to stop them, but his hand passed through them like he was made of mist.

     “That’s too long to leave her unburied.”

     The neighbors picked up Julia’s corpse and carried her out the back of the shop. Magnus stood and watched them leave with her. As they left, the shop slowly slipped away, dissolving into a white haze. 

     “He’ll understand, right?”

     “...he won’t have a choice.”

 

 

     Magnus’ eyes opened and he looked around the room before moving. Mercifully, he was back in his room at the Bureau. The large window showed the dark lunar landscape and there was silence save for his breathing. He crushed the palms of his hands against his eyes till he saw colors. 

     The door to his room slid open with a quiet hiss, and Magnus turned to see who had opened it. He sat up as Taako and Merle walked in. Taako’s hair was a crazy nest around his head, and Merle was scratching his stomach through his footie pajamas.

     “You kahuna, my dude?” Taako asked, crossing his arms.

     “Yeah, yeah.” Magnus looked down and rubbed his fingers on the edge of the blanket. “Did I wake you guys?”

     “Nope.” Merle said through a yawn. “This yahoo wakes me up and says that you need help. But apparently everything’s good, save my night’s sleep!” 

     Taako stared intently at Magnus, who looked away. “I was having...a pretty bad dream...but that’s all it was.”

     “Julia?” Taako asked. Magnus nodded. Merle looked between the two of them.

     “You wanna talk about it?” Merle asked. Magnus shook his head, no part of him wanted to rehash what he had just dreamt.

     “That’s fine.”

     “If you need us, we’ll be there for you on the other side of the wall.”

     “Thanks, guys.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everybody, Thanks so much for reading. This is my first TAZ fic, and I hope you liked it. If you did, be sure to leave some kudos or a comment below. If you didn't, let me know what you think could be improved. I always love hearing from you guys.


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